About 82% of marketers invest in content marketing strategies according to ahrefs.
The best content marketing is directed at specific individuals. These are people who are customers, buyers of the products and services offered. While each individual is different, buyers often share similar traits, tastes, and even activities and mannerisms.
How can all of these behavioral traits be determined and harnessed to generate effective and targeted content?
Interview Buyers
The best way to gain information about those who buy products or services is to ask them. Questionnaires can be a wealth of knowledge, as can in-person interviews. Ask a customer if you can speak to them. Sit them down and take notes about what they say.
This will give direct information from the buyer and make them feel important and appreciated.
Most successful interviews aren’t designed to be long. They must be convenient to the customer, or else they won’t bother with answering the questions. If you find a customer who is willing to go in-depth with their answers, there’s no reason not to indulge them.
Take advantage of the interview process as much as possible. How often do you get the opportunity to sit down and have a conversation with a customer? While it will take time to accomplish, the trade-offs are more than worth it.
Email Questions
Questionnaires can also be sent to customers. Email is suitable for this. Use email to send a link to a landing page with the questions you want to be answered. If this is the route chosen, remember to incentivize the process by adding something of value to the landing page.
Design the questions so there are some multiple-choices and provide space for a customer to explain why they think the way they do. This will give greater insight into the reason for their decisions. Multiple choice answers are easy to translate into meaningful data as well.
If you choose to use this method, keep the number of questions to a minimum. Only the most important questions should be asked. As long as there is a reward, buyers are often willing to share many details about why they purchased an item, so ask carefully.
Analytic Analysis
Analytics has always been used to determine and understand buyer behavior. What does the average buyer do before they make a purchase? What part of the website they browse and how long they spend reading content are all things you can learn.
If you’re using Google Analytics 4, you can even set up events to track user IDs over multiple platforms. Opening your eyes to the entire journey a customer makes is a great way to figure out what they want and need. You can even stitch these analytics together from different sessions and devices.
Whatever analytics program you use, always pay attention to behavioral signals. Knowing what your buyer does and how they act is a great way to tailor content to them. With the right content in the right place, you’ll be able to track the success of your content marketing strategy.
A/B Testing
When you start A/B testing, there needs to be an idea of what the buyer wants. You can confirm hypotheses this way. Give them two options for a webpage, one that is normal and the other optimized for their needs and content.
Often this is done using landing pages and offering them two choices. Track which choice is picked and how often. This alone will tell you why they are choosing one piece of content over another.
The great thing about A/B testing is that it is a scientific testing method. The results you get back will be quantifiable and understandable. This type of testing works for anything but is rarely used by marketers, many of whom fail to see its advantages.
Use different headlines, types of media, and anything else you can think of. The more focused each choice is, the more information you can glean from it.
Social Networking
When asked about social networking, many people think of personal and professional networks. Most will say Facebook or Linkedin, respectively. However, depending on your niche, there are many varied and rich social networks that exist for any specialty or job.
Find the one which fits the customers you’re selling to, and see what people are saying. On these networks, you’ll often find unvarnished opinions. You can even see changing trends or ideas that occur on the grassroots level this way.
The better connected you are to your prospective buyers, the more information you can gather about them. Let them tell you what kind of content they want so that you can provide it for them. This organic method of developing content helps make content more personable and relatable.
Events
Whether an online event or in real life, events and trade shows are a great way to meet people. You can mingle in the crowd and speak to prospective buyers without any pretense. It is also possible to attend panels or speak at them, as well as take questions from the audience.
So much of what is done online is mirrored in the real world. This real-world knowledge and integration will set content apart from competitors. Due to the atmosphere, it is also possible to connect with potential buyers and develop a personal relationship with them.
This could be considered the most obvious and most rewarding path. Gather the information you need while building relationships. These relationships can be treasure troves of data that not only help to create better content, but also build brand authority and awareness.
Well Developed Content Marketing
The data that is derived from all of these sources is what will help to guide the content of the future. Buyers and potential customers want to feel connected and heard, all of which interaction provides. Once the knowledge is in place, create the content for buyers, not because of buyers.
Research should never stop because markets and trends never stop changing. Gathering data and research over a long period of time will also help make a company more agile and informed. When the next cultural or professional shift occurs, be ready and move with it.